Never mind the quality, take a seat!

Abstract

This paper considers whether lecturers delivering business higher education programmes (BHEPs) in further education colleges (FECs) in the UK see education to be a production industry, or a knowledge industry. It will consider the effects of managerialism and marketisation that the UK government (and others around the world) are applying to the education sector, and their possible effects. The study considers the narratives of 26 lecturers delivering BHEPs in FECs in relation to government intervention, and the impacts it may be having on their role as a lecturer. The research highlights that there may be a great deal of frustration and angst amongst these lecturers, and from this, suggests that colleges may be behaving more like production factories, rather than institutions of further and higher education.

Keywords:

• HE in FE
• HE
• production operatives
• knowledge industry
• managerialism

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the reviewers of this paper for their insightful comments and suggestions they put forward. I would also like to thank Prof. Chris Cowton – The Business School, University of Huddersfield, for his comments on how to improve the paper for submission.